Editor’s Note: The House is in recess until January. Recent Senate VotesMillett Nomination – confirmation – Vote Confirmed (56-38, 6 Not Voting)
In the first vote on President Barack Obama’s nominees to the federal judiciary since the chamber changed its filibuster rules, the Senate confirmed Patricia Ann Millett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on December 10. Her confirmation required a simple majority under the new cloture rules adopted on November 21, which apply to all nominees except for those to the Supreme Court. Millett’s nomination received two votes from the Republican caucus – Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – while five Republicans did not cast a vote. Her confirmation was the first of 11 votes mustered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. during the week of Dec. 9.Sen. Charles Schumer voted YESSen. Kirsten Gillibrand voted YES

Recent House VotesBudget Agreement – passage – Vote Passed (332-94)
Before leaving for the rest of the year, the House passed legislation based on talks between House and Senate conferees that establishes a budget for fiscal 2014 and increases discretionary spending caps for fiscal 2014 and 2015 that would be offset by increases in passenger air travel fees and federal employee pension contributions and a two-year extension of sequester cuts to Medicare. The agreement raises the spending cap for this year to $1.012 trillion from the sequester level of $967 billion established in 2011. The bill modifies oil and gas programs to reduce spending by $4.5 billion over a decade and federal student loan debt collection that would save $5 billion. The compromise passed the House comfortably with 169 Republicans and 163 Democrats in support. The Senate is expected to vote on it this week.Rep. Louise Slaughter voted NO

Defense authorization – passage – Vote Passed (350-69, 13 Not Voting)
In one of its final acts of the year, the House passed the defense bill (HR 3304) by a vote of 350-69, authorizing $625.1 billion, which would account for more than half of the federal government’s discretionary spending in fiscal 2014. Including mandatory spending, the defense bill authorizes $632.8 billion. To save time in the waning days of the session, the defense authorization agreement was simply loaded onto a small House bill the Senate already had passed. The authorization bill’s is roughly $3.1 billion less than the fiscal 2013 enacted level. Of that, it would authorize $526.8 billion for the Defense Department’s base budget, $80.7 billion for overseas contingency operations — mainly the war in Afghanistan — and $17.6 billion for national security programs within the Energy Department. In addition, the measure would make several statutory changes aimed at reducing sexual assaults in the military. It also would continue the existing ban on transferring detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba to the United States.Rep. Louise Slaughter voted YES

Upcoming VotesFiscal 2014 Budget Compromise – H.J.RES.59
The Senate will take up the House passed budget compromise on Tuesday.